As you get ready to read this, i've got to point up some things:
1) all times are real. i started typing this at about 6am, when i was told school was cancelled.
2) nearly all thoughts are real. the only exception is anything regarding Jack
3) Jack is fictional
Now that you know this, please enjoy my story.

Valentine's Gift

It was a chilly morning, the snow had yet to start in the Pine Tree State. The pending storm has cancelled just about everything. It frustrates me because I will never know what I will get from one of my friends. I can also easily say that school will be cancelled tomorrow, and vacation starts on the following day. This was the last thing I wanted; an extended vacation. It's about 6:15 in the morning on Valentine's day, the only snow on the ground was from previous snowstorms that happened sometime in January. Out my window I can see the mucky ground where my dad parks his truck that something seems to happen to it, the poor truck is falling apart. He won't be home until about 7:30, since he works nights at work.

Not a flake has fallen yet, the storm is still south from my house. Perhaps it is snowing down at the waterfront, since my town sits next to the main river in The Pine Tree State and I live on the outskirts. One of my friends said that he was gonna get us, Jessica and I, something better then carnations, my curiosity spiked, and now I might not know until February 26, when vacation gets over. I really hoped for a half a day today, but it was in vain. I already don't know what to do for vacation, theoretically speaking, another two days is gonna make it a whole helluava longer vacation.

The sky is getting brighter as the morning comes, still the trees remain, and not even a car drives by. The bottom of my foot begins to itch randomly, but I ignore it, something I can sometimes do. My dad said that the weatherman said the snow was to begin at daybreak… here in the Pine Tree State, what does that account for? The amount of sunlight is increasing as spring approaches, and my fan is spreading cool air around. At least the furnace isn't dead, I've heard it a few times this morning in the fact that the heat is on. My pipes in my room sound like they are popping or cracking, it's telling me that the heat is here and the furnace is on.

Now I want to see Jack, my kinda sorta boyfriend, as everyone in school comments. True to the fact he is a boy, and he is a friend, so he's in the same boat as Corey, he was the one who was going to give me and Jessica something better then carnations. I told him to do it yesterday on Monday, but he didn't listen, that's kinda the reason why our friendship never went the to the next level, he's just too dense to realize some things. He's a smart and likable boy, but he's also the shy type. I've known him for a very long time, but that doesn't seem to add into effect anything.

Jack is, in ways, a lot like Corey in a sense that he's likable and kind, but not dense. He respects my, boundaries, and knows that I'm not really ready for a relationship. Still, I know he walks right next to that first boundary and is waiting for me to become soft. To imagine that I am thinking this at about 6:40 in the morning is kinda odd for me. Valentine's day is just a day that signifies that at some point in the past, someone named Valentine did something note worthy on February 14. Over time this day has become a day where you did something special for a loved one, may it be friendship love or something more. Speaking of being 20 minutes of 7, it has begun to snow.

Perhaps the school department did make the right call this time. Which reminds me of December 8, that day was suppose to be a half day, a big storm was at our doors, next thing I know, the 12:30 dismissal was changed to the normal 2:15 dismissal. They should've just cancelled school on that day. However, they made it up to us by making the day before Christmas Vacation a half a day. Still, not going to school makes me a little upset. I know it sounds odd, but there are people out there who like school, and I'm one of them.

I hear someone coming up the stairs now. It's quarter of 7 and dad isn't home, and my older brother is somewhere in his own room, I believe. It must be Jack, since he sleeps here during the school week, and on weekends or vacations he is at his parents' house, which isn't in my school bus system's area. Both parents of both families agreed he could stay here so he can get a ride to school. I wonder why he comes upstairs, probably to see if I'm awake yet. How can I sleep? I've been up since 5:40ish. That doesn't match yesterday, though. Yesterday I was having a dream, and when I woke up it was 3:00 am. It was chilly in my room, and not because my fan was on. I ended up heading downstairs and restarting the furnace for the eighth time since it acted up the previous weekend.

I hear Jack call in softly, and I let him in. He has learned how fast to move my door so that it doesn't make a sound. Sitting up in bed, I look at him with semi sleepy eyes. I don't know what 'Hot' or 'sexy' means, but Jack is a well-built man, short brown hair and blue eyes, he stands about 5'10" and is strong, I should know, he's picked me up and carried me before. He walks over to my bed and sits down, I'm lying close to the wall, and it's a full size bed. My long, brown hair sticks to the pillowcase, and I absently try to wipe it away, only to hear static. It doesn't bother me, since it's worse when I take off my black jacket that I have dubbed 'Static Electricity Jacket', it has matching pants that always has hair sticking on it, may it be mine or cat fur. Today, however, I'm garbed in my pink PJ's, a matching set that says 'Angel', and on the pants it is in heart with wings.

"No school, I take it?" he asks, though knowing the answer. As the hour of 7 begins, I can only smile.

"I would've woken you up otherwise." I said. "I'm upset that I won't get to see what Corey was going to give me."

"And the fact that you don't go to school." Jack says, "I know you well enough to know that." I only smile. True that Jack knows me, he's had two years to do it.

Silence once again falls, minus the sound of the fan and the running of my CD player, but the music has played so many times now that it's truly only background music. It's also not an uncomfortable silence, I'm often in my own little world, always thinking about something that doesn't relate to anything in school. How many story ideas do I have that never really get down until my mind settles upon them and works through them until the full story is in mind and then working on getting on paper, but mostly computer.

Then it is nearing 7:10, Dad would be home soon, and on normal days the bus would be about 2 minutes from my house. Since school was cancelled, I don't expect to hear it go by. I sit up and shake my head lightly, doing it to much this early would make my brain hurt. I look at Jack with my eyes and give him one of my smiles. I don't plan on changing my clothes today, if I have no reason to.

It was then, as I moved to the edge my bed where Jack was sitting, did he suddenly reach out and grabbed my shoulder lightly. This simple action makes me turn to him, wondering what he wanted this time. He moves his hand and places it on the side of my face, an action he wouldn't normally do with me. His touch startles me, but I try not to make it apparent. I wanted to see what it was he wanted to do, if it had anything to do with Valentine's Day. I tried to read his eyes, but I couldn't. I don't see how people can, I can't seem to do or understand anything, and I always believed because I've never grown up in that kind of environment contently.

Carefully, he moves closer to me, and I try to push down the feeling of fear that was building up. I was starting to get a little uncomfortable, but I stretch my thinned patience. The only reason it's so thin is because yesterday my little brother wouldn't stop bothering me, and it wouldn't really have a chance to rebuild this vacation. Out of the corner of my eye I spot my window, the snow is coming down pretty hard now.

"Roxanne." He whispered, causing my eyes to go back and lock with his.

"Jack?" I whispered back, my voice was shaky now. Normally I would be able to keep it even, hell my face is probably showing signs of fear now, I don't know what he is doing nor do I know what to do about it. My face can often be a poker face, nothing really gets me laughing unless it's really good, nor will I cry unless it's powerful, such as the ending to 'The Guardian'. "What are you doing?" I finally asked.

"Don't worry." He replied, his free hand brushing my hair, which is probably flying now. Through the reflection of his eyes, the clock reads 7:26.

My mind suddenly screams, saying to pull away, but I don't. My mind tells me he's trying to soften my wall so he can get close and hurt me, but I don't listen fully. That mind is my conscious I rarely listen to. I hear a truck pulling into the lower driveway, outside my window, but I don't move. Another voice told me to relax and let the water takes it's flow instead of blocking it with a dam. That's the voice I often find myself listening too.

I read the reflection, the clock reads 7:30. I did say dad would be home at about 7:30ish, he entered the house at that time. Not a bad guess on my part. The hand that is on my cheek is suddenly around my neck as Jack closes the gap between us. I'm quite startled when his lips touch against my dry, chapped one. When he pulled back, he backed up far enough to read my eyes, but no more. I think I saw him smile in his eyes before kissing me again, this time, however, I kiss him back.

If this was his Valentine's Gift to me, I say he hit it right on the money.

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